Silica gels have been used to remove certain undesirable components from certain beverages, typically by adsorption. For example, silica xerogels have been used in brewing processes to reduce chill haze in beer by adsorbing certain proteins that are generally responsible for haze formation. Indeed, silica xerogels constitute one of the most widely used classes of chill haze reducer for beer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,553 to Berg et al. teaches that silica gel on which multivalent cations are adsorbed, especially Mg and Ca, has enhanced performance as a beer haze reducer. However, it is generally accepted by those skilled in the art that alkali metals are undesirable when present in silica gel used as a haze reducer. It is in fact common for xerogels used for this purpose to carry a specification requiring that they be washed substantially free of sodium or other alkali metal salts.